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Queen
Oct 23, 2019 16:22:53 GMT
Post by kds on Oct 23, 2019 16:22:53 GMT
As mentioned before, Queen doesn't really have a lot of non album track to discuss. But, since we're on News of the World, it's worth mentioning that Queen arranged a rocked up, faster version of We Will Rock You, which they used to open their concerts for several years. They would, then, play the more traditional WWRY towards the end of the show. Versions of the fast WWRY can be found on Live Killers, Queen Rock Montreal, and Queen On Air. That was a really genius thing they did with the faster version of WWRY, such a cool way to open the show. As for non-album tracks, there's also this, which I think is really good. Imagine it with trademark Queen backing vocals though! As much of a Queen fan as I am, this was my first time hearing that song. I actually liked it more than half of the songs on the NOTW album.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Queen
Oct 23, 2019 18:33:38 GMT
Post by bellbottoms on Oct 23, 2019 18:33:38 GMT
As much of a Queen fan as I am, this was my first time hearing that song. I actually liked it more than half of the songs on the NOTW album. It's on the 2011 Remaster Deluxe edition and Spotify, where I encountered it. And while I think NOTW is fantastic the way it is, it is kind of a headscratcher as to why they left this off, and why it never made it onto any subsequent albums either. I've been struggling to refrain from responding to your comment about the two albums following NOTW being stronger because I didn't want to leap into the Jazz discussion before we're ready. I'm gonna go there now: I have a hard time kicking anything from NOTW off to put Feelings, Feelings on, but I can definitely find songs on Jazz that I'd leave off to put this on.
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Queen
Oct 23, 2019 19:46:19 GMT
Post by kds on Oct 23, 2019 19:46:19 GMT
As much of a Queen fan as I am, this was my first time hearing that song. I actually liked it more than half of the songs on the NOTW album. It's on the 2011 Remaster Deluxe edition and Spotify, where I encountered it. And while I think NOTW is fantastic the way it is, it is kind of a headscratcher as to why they left this off, and why it never made it onto any subsequent albums either. I've been struggling to refrain from responding to your comment about the two albums following NOTW being stronger because I didn't want to leap into the Jazz discussion before we're ready. I'm gonna go there now: I have a hard time kicking anything from NOTW off to put Feelings, Feelings on, but I can definitely find songs on Jazz that I'd leave off to put this on. I'd easily swap out Sheer Heart Attack, Get Down Make Love, or Sleeping on the Sidewalk. So, I'll update my opinion that Feelings is (IMO) better than 1/3 of NOTW, not half. I think I'll post my write up on Jazz tomorrow. I never went for the deluxe reissues. All my Queen albums are from the early 90s Hollywood Records re-issues. The bonus tracks on those are mostly 1991 remixes, many of which are actually quite dreadful.
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Queen
Oct 23, 2019 22:37:38 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Oct 23, 2019 22:37:38 GMT
I had never heard "Feelings, Feelings," either. Thanks for sharing.
I can't say I'm a huge fan of it, but that might be just because of its demo state of being. A finished product would no doubt have had a bit more Queenness going on. Pretty straightforward rocker, but a decent one for sure. Definitely far from their worst song.
As far as them never revisiting it on a future album, I know I've read and heard especially Freddie say that Queen tended not to revisit old music: that once it was left behind, it was left behind because they tended to have a lot of new material they'd be infatuated with by that next time around. He especially was apparently very much an in-the-moment person with respect to his material. That said I don't have the knowledge to fact-check him about it.
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Queen
Oct 24, 2019 15:27:36 GMT
Post by kds on Oct 24, 2019 15:27:36 GMT
JAZZ (1978)
Jazz is Queen's seventh studio album in a six year period. Given that output, it would be reasonable to expect a drop off in quality. However, that's not the case with Jazz.
Jazz offers a baker's dozen of dazzling, diverse Queen tunes in different styles, tempos, and languages.
Might as well start with the obvious ones. Usually, I find Queen's album sequencing to be top notch, but I have to say that it's a bit puzzling to me that Fat Bottomed Girls and Bicycle Race are not side by side on the album, as I've always linked them together. But, either way, both songs are great campy rock and roll fun. The former became a guitar driving classic rock staple. The chorus is so great, that the rock song celebrating certain assets hasn't been taken behind the woodshed in this woke world of 2019. The latter is just silly fun, and probably the first rock song to name check Star Wars.
In between is an overlooked masterpiece, Jealousy, which I think harkens back to Queen's earlier albums. Of choice, the sitar effect on Brian's guitar as heard on White Queen (Queen II) might be one of the reasons I make that connection, but the Freddie penned piano ballad is absolutely gorgeous.
The other obvious track is Don't Stop Me Now, which seems to be more popular now than ever, popping up in movies and commercials quite often. Just a great rock / pop track.
Let Me Entertain You is a great self referential song that Queen would use at the beginning of their shows (often after the fast WWRY). Queen has a way of referenced themselves without hitting you over the head with it (unlike some bands we know and love).
Other rockers include Dead on Time, a fast paced rocker that I feel captures the punk energy that Sheer Heart Attack was going for, and If You Can't Beat 'Em, which probably would've been a hit for most bands.
Queen take their first steps on the dance floor with Fun It, a disco infused rocker with shared vocals from Roger and Freddie.
The album opens with Mustapha, a somewhat bold choice for an opening song with several different languages in the lyrics. Good song, but perhaps Let Me Entertain You could've been a better opener.
In Only Seven Days is another one of those quietly good John Deacon songs. Leaving Home Ain't Easy is a pretty good May lead vocal track. And Dreamer's Ball is pure Freddie.
The album closer might be the one misstep here. A Roger Taylor song with just dreadful lyrics (even for him) with a strange underture, playing snippets from several of the album's songs. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time.
The album's packaging was somewhat controversial as it included a fold old poster of many nude buxom ladies from the nude bicycle race that was held to promote the album.
Despite the title, Jazz is pure rock bliss. It would probably be another decade before Queen released such a guitar infused album.
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Queen
Oct 24, 2019 17:42:15 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 24, 2019 17:42:15 GMT
Despite the title, Jazz is pure rock bliss. What was the meaning - if any - of the album title, Jazz?
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Queen
Oct 24, 2019 17:52:07 GMT
Post by kds on Oct 24, 2019 17:52:07 GMT
Despite the title, Jazz is pure rock bliss. What was the meaning - if any - of the album title, Jazz? To be honest, I have no recollection. For S&Gs, I Googled it, and I complete forgot that Roy Thomas Baker was brought back for Jazz. Also, I joked that I'm surprised Fat Bottomed Girls has survived in the modern woke world, check this out from 1979 Reviewing for Rolling Stone in 1979, Dave Marsh panned Jazz as "more of the same dull pastiche" from Queen, who he said displayed "elitist notions" with some of their musical choices and lyrics. Marsh said "Fat Bottomed Girls" treated women "not as sex objects but as objects, period (the way the band regards people in general)", and finished by famously tagging Queen "the first truly fascist rock band".[10][17] Mitchell Cohen of Creem gave another negative review, calling Jazz "absurdly dull" and filled with "dumb ideas and imitative posturing".[18] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said the album was not wholly bad, even finding "Bicycle Race" humorous, although he said Queen sounded like the band 10cc "with a spoke, or a pump, up their ass".
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Queen
Oct 24, 2019 19:39:27 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Oct 24, 2019 19:39:27 GMT
Good question regarding the name. Since it obviously has nothing to do with the musical style jazz, I always assumed it was as in the saying "all of that jazz," with the album being a collection of "all of that jazz," e.g. a little of everything. And then the final track, of course, is "More of the Jazz."
As for those comments about the album, those critics were by that time so pretentious. (As were plenty of the bands, Queen included, to be fair.) I'd actually rather have the 1950s era when NO critics gave a damn about rock and roll, thought it was just silly kid stuff, and mostly ignored it. By late Beatles and thereafter, it was so serious.
It's because of that they couldn't see that Queen was pompous, obviously, but Queen was HILARIOUS. "Fat Bottomed Girls" is offensive, to some extent, of course. But it's also a) true,* including about all of those conceited critics' favorite bands, and b) hilarious because it's being sung by FREDDIE MERCURY. I mean, honestly, Freddie Mercury singing about these fat-bottomed girls who make the rockin' world go 'round ... that's funny! Sure, it's a Brian May song, but the glory is Freddie singing it. It's absurd!
Fascist band. pfft.
*I'm listening to Marc Maron's podcast right now, interviewing Pamela Des Barres. It's apropos, as she is commenting on how the public often did and still does think she was some moron being used by these sexist rock stars ... and she's noting that she, at least, was every bit as in control, as involved, and as happy with the situation as the guys were.
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Queen
Oct 24, 2019 19:59:24 GMT
Post by kds on Oct 24, 2019 19:59:24 GMT
I've seen Des Barres on various rock docs saying the same thing. Frankly, I see nothing wrong with anthems celebrating the human form. And I'm so glad we haven't gotten so ultra sensitive that songs like Fat Bottomed Girl are taken off the radio forever.
But, I had to laugh at the critical take on Queen as it's as over the top was Queen was. Calling Queen a fascist band??? That's hilarious. Probably unintentionally so, but still really funny. What makes me laugh more than anything about these critics is that they actually thing fans give a flying fuck about what they have to say. "Well, I was going to buy the new Queen album, but Dave Marsh from Rolling Stone called it 'dull." " - Said, no one ever.
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Queen
Oct 24, 2019 20:05:34 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Oct 24, 2019 20:05:34 GMT
As the founding member and president of the Dave Marsh of Rolling Stone fan club, I am extremely offended and plan to formally censure you at our next meeting!
Seriously, the one thing that worries me about critics is that I think they actually can (and do) to some extent have an influence, which costs real people real money. I don't think someone like you or me would read a negative review of a band we like and change our minds, but thinking back to when I was 12 or 13 reading Metal Edge, Circus, Guitar World, etc., I'm sure those reviews and articles helped push me toward or away from various things. Luckily now it is so easy to sample music for yourself for free, I think they probably have less influence.
As for fascist, my guess is that the word was in the wind at the time, on the lips of punks and hardcore fans. Queen certainly always had a negative reputation in part for being smart, well spoken, initially middle class university graduates. That's certainly not authentic... But I don't think it qualifies them as Hitlers and Mussolinis!
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Queen
Oct 24, 2019 20:17:31 GMT
Post by kds on Oct 24, 2019 20:17:31 GMT
As the founding member and president of the Dave Marsh of Rolling Stone fan club, I am extremely offended and plan to formally censure you at our next meeting!
Seriously, the one thing that worries me about critics is that I think they actually can (and do) to some extent have an influence, which costs real people real money. I don't think someone like you or me would read a negative review of a band we like and change our minds, but thinking back to when I was 12 or 13 reading Metal Edge, Circus, Guitar World, etc., I'm sure those reviews and articles helped push me toward or away from various things. Luckily now it is so easy to sample music for yourself for free, I think they probably have less influence.
As for fascist, my guess is that the word was in the wind at the time, on the lips of punks and hardcore fans. Queen certainly always had a negative reputation in part for being smart, well spoken, initially middle class university graduates. That's certainly not authentic... But I don't think it qualifies them as Hitlers and Mussolinis!
Maybe they had some influence, but it seemed like in the 70s and 80s at least, the bands that the critics hated tend to sell more albums and concert tickets than the critical darlings. The fascist thing is also probably why the press hated prog at the time too, with their classically influenced songs and lyrics inspired by literature and history. But, what's funny is that intellectual band were raked over the coals, but then so were bands who just wanted to rock and roll all night and party every day.
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Queen
Oct 24, 2019 20:21:30 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Oct 24, 2019 20:21:30 GMT
Regarding Jazz, I love this album. I dislike one song ("More of the Jazz") and don't much care for one other ("Fun It," although it has grown on me over the years). Everything else ranges from pretty good to great.
The hits from this one are true classics and I love them all. I do think "Don't Stop Me Now" has gained ground in the US--it was entirely ignored during the first Queen renaissance from what I remember--to become one of their better known songs, popping up all over the place in ads, movies and TV shows, and on classic rock radio. I'm glad of it: I used to drive around circa summer 1996 in an always breaking-down old 1987 Ford Tempo with the windows down BLARING that song in particular, singing along at the top of my lungs. (Fun fact: small-town Minnesotans in 1996 didn't seem to especially enjoy my energetic and public adorations of Queen. The "I'm gonna make a supersonic man out of you" didn't seem to help.)
I also really like the lower profile numbers, whether ballads like "Jealousy" and "Leaving Home Ain't Easy," softer pop numbers like "In Only Seven Days," or the more risque or rocking "Let Me Entertain You" and "Dead on Time."
I've always wondered what was behind "Mustapha." Was it just them being silly? Was it meaningful to them? Whatever it was, I love it. Great energy and some powerhouse vocals, as usual. And speaking of powerhouse vocals, "Dreamers Ball" is, was, and ever shall be mine. My goodness, I love that song. The one tune on Jazz that could be considered jazz (especially Brian May's Freddie Green-style acoustic guitar chunk in the verses), Mercury by the end is just slaying. And of course May's orchestrated guitar-as-jazz-band, a la "Good Company," is always welcome--and his solo is killer! It isn't as boisterous as some, but it is actual jazz, too, a rarity from rockers: he's really making clever use of the underlying chord structure.
Truly love this album. It's a shame it had to come from a humorless bunch of fascists.
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Queen
Oct 24, 2019 20:47:30 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Oct 24, 2019 20:47:30 GMT
I've always wondered what was behind "Mustapha." Was it just them being silly? Was it meaningful to them? Whatever it was, I love it. Great energy and some powerhouse vocals, as usual. And speaking of powerhouse vocals,
I didn't realize there were three languages plus gibberish in this song (English, Arabic [Ibrahim, Allah, and I'm guessing mustapha, at least], and Parsi/Persian). I always just assumed there were only two. And it didn't make a lot of sense why there would be Arabic in a Queen song, necessarily, but the blog I linked above says that Freddie's family's home in Zanzibar was something like 99% Muslim, so it does make sense that he'd pick up words and phrases even though he went to school in India.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Queen
Oct 24, 2019 22:07:39 GMT
Post by bellbottoms on Oct 24, 2019 22:07:39 GMT
I had never heard "Feelings, Feelings," either. Thanks for sharing.
I can't say I'm a huge fan of it, but that might be just because of its demo state of being. A finished product would no doubt have had a bit more Queenness going on. Pretty straightforward rocker, but a decent one for sure. Definitely far from their worst song.
As far as them never revisiting it on a future album, I know I've read and heard especially Freddie say that Queen tended not to revisit old music: that once it was left behind, it was left behind because they tended to have a lot of new material they'd be infatuated with by that next time around. He especially was apparently very much an in-the-moment person with respect to his material. That said I don't have the knowledge to fact-check him about it.
Interesting. I don’t imagine Queen has a vault of material the way the Beach Boys do, but it does make me wonder what goodies might come out once their copyright extension period begins in the coming decade. I imagine some live stuff, but now I wonder about any other studio stuff that has yet to dribble out.
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Queen
Oct 24, 2019 22:16:30 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Oct 24, 2019 22:16:30 GMT
I've got to think that if there were much in the way of unreleased Freddie Mercury material to capitalize on, it would be out there already. Keep in mind that even in 1995, when the band released the solid, posthumous Made in Heaven (which we'll get to when KDS works through the next almost two decades), they mostly used previously released solo material. If there were much strong studio Queen material, I'd think they'd have gone with that rather than remaking what already was out there.
And then we had the various 10, 15, and 20 year anniversaries of his death. Michael Jackson's death. The movie. And yet we only get a few outtakes or newly completed tunes along the way.
That's why I doubt there's much more on tape in any near complete state. It just wouldn't make sense, especially for a business savvy band like Queen (unlike the Beach Boys), to let much of quality sit so long.
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